For the first time in years, Cathedral scored points in the women’s swimming and diving State meet thanks to junior diver Sophie Mernitz, who finished 12th with a score of 413.80 on the day. 

According to Head Coach Ms. Ashley Hill, Mernitz experienced a successful season. “She was undefeated in every dual meet this year, took second in City, first in Sectional, fourth in Regional, and 12th in State. All of that being said, she has only been diving for a year and a half.”

New coach earns praise

Mernitz credits this success to a new diving coach, Ms. Shelby Bartlett, in giving her corrections to improve her dives. As well, Mernitz says she has switched Clubs from “Ripfest to IISD (Indiana International School of Diving). The switch allowed me to train more hours, and have more intensity.”

Not only was there a vast improvement from last season, but Hill said Mernitz broke her own school record from her sophomore year. 

“Over the past year Sophie has not only improved upon last year’s dives, she has been able to increase the degree of difficulty of her dives. An example is going from a front one and one-half somersault to a front double somersault. The higher the degree of difficulty, the possible total score a dive can be raised. For perspective, Sophie’s school record last year was 310.25 points. This year she broke that by over 100 points.” 

Mernitz said she will participate in club practices regularly from now until the high school season approaches again. 

Season goal changes

At the start of the season, Mernitz’s goal was dive at the State meet at the IU Natatorium in Downtown Indianapolis. “However, once I qualified for State my goal quickly changed, and I wanted to be in the finals.” 

Hill said that seeing her athlete compete at State was what she termed “special” because of the hard work Mernitz spent at practices during the season. 

When asked about what the next step is for planning Mernitz’s senior year, Hill said, “Right now (Mernitz) is enjoying this year’s success and in a few weeks we will sit down to talk about next year and her goals. It is my hope that she continues to love the sport and enjoys both practice and competition.”

Hill wanted to congratulate Mernitz on her season and success in the State tournament. The coach said, “Congrats on an amazing year and thank you for letting all of us be a part the experience.”

Mernitz said she has plans to dive in college.